Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1887-09-03
MECHANICAL.

with lead.
WHEN steel car axles break, the
weight of evidence shows that it is usu.
ally just behind the wheel.
RAILS weighing 101 pounds to the
yard are being rolled at a mill In Sc
VARY, Belgium, to be used on line at
points where trains run at the rate OF
sixty miles an hour.
For green transparent varnish for
metals grind small quantity OF
Chinese blue with double the quantity
of finely powdered chromate of potash
Git requires the most elaborate grind
ing); add a sufficient quantity of copal
varnish thinned with turpentine. The
tone may be altered by adding more or
less of one or the other of the ingre-
dents.
ONE of the remarkable mechanical
changes OF the dag is the setting aside
Of steel and readoption of iron for some
of the most important wear ng parts OF
locomotives on many railroads in this
country and Canada. How far this
change will go is hard to tell. 1t is
not many years since the change was
made, on most roads, from iron to
steel. The reaction will be observed
with particular interest an
Machi21ist.
A TELL-TALE paint has been invented
by an Englishman for showing when O
bearing is hot At normal tempera-
ture it is brilliant red, but as it is heat
ed it grows darker until at $50 degrees
Z. it is quite brown. As it cools it re-
gains its original color. If the bear.
lngs of an engine or machine be COW
cred with paint the man in charge can
tell at glance if they are running
cool, and if they become hot he can
watch at distance the effect of the lu-
bricant he applies.
A NEW form of tin, called by the in
ventor, Albert Assam, of pathway, N.
j., "assayme, is produced by special
treatment of tin. It has all the good
qualities of the latter, can be pressed
into any shape, or cast into statuary,
or used for plate ware of any descrip-
ton. A beautiful bronze color can be
given to the latter, or any shade from
bronze to silver color; and as it does
not in the least corrode, it is specially
valuable as silver solder. It melts at
temperature of 43O degrees, or 10
degrees less than tin.
AN engineer of the st. Louis fire de-
partment has invented little machine
containing an electric battery, with
coils of wire-the whole placed in
cigar box-which does away with hay
ing to keep the gas burning all the
time in order to be ready to light the
! fire for steam. It is so arranged that
when the engine starts a sort of comb
like spring scrapes the gas burner,
which sends up a fame about three
feet high, igniting the shavings in the
fre-box. The cost of these electric
lighters is only S. for each machine,
and it will be at once adopted by the
st. Louis fire department..
A NEW novelty hunting knife has
made it's appearance, the special
feature of which is the manner in
which the blade is connected with the
handle and opens. In operating this
knife it is held point downward, when,
by moving the latch which holds the
blade, the blade drops out to it's full
length and is then firmly locked. In
closing the knife the operation is re-
versed-the point turned up and the
latch drawn back-when the blade
drops in, and the latch being released,
the opening is securely closed, keeping
the blade in and excluding dirt from
the knife.
VULCABEsTON is the name of a new
article, intended to combine all the
valuable qualities of asbestos and India
rubber, of which, as it's name indi-
Gates, it is mainly composed, although
other vulcanizable materials enter into
its composition. It forms substance
of the toughness of horn, although it
can be made of any degree of fexibili-
ty; it is non conductor of electricity,
and stands the severest test of acids,
steam, gases, etc. From it's quality of
permanently resisting heat, which has
been so long known as the character
istic feature of asbestos, it has been
adopted by the United States Govern
ment for use around steam-engines.
AN ingenious improvement in the
manufacture of tin cans for preserving
food consists III so forming the lid that
it is merely pressed on, and the can is
Theoretically sealed, so that no internal
pressure can remove the lid. Water
boiled in tin thus closed has failed to
force it off, although the steam pres
sure has burst the can itself. Apenny
piece, however, used as lever by being
placed under rim formed around the
top of the cover, with the shoulder of
the can as fulcrum, raises the lid with
remarkably small expenditure of
power. The principle involved in the
device is that of the wedge and lever.
The neck of the tin on which the lid fits
is formed at very slight angle from
the vertical, and the rim of the lid is
made at corresponding angle, no SOL
der being used to form the joint. By
means of this arrangement, however,
the opening of the cans is rendered
remarkably clean, quick, and simple
operation.
A MODE of rendering wood incom-
b,,ek,h1o mt <roporo11x, Inoxx,r 80 IL